History of Tulsa, Oklahoma
is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 45th-most populous city in the United States.
Tulsa was settled between 1828 and 1836 by the Lochapoka Band of Creek Native American tribe. For most of the 20th century, the city held the nickname "Oil Capital of the World" and played a major role as one of the most important hubs for the American oil industry.
Indian Territory: 1830–1882
What was to ultimately become Tulsa was part of Indian Territory, which was created as part of the relocation of the Five Civilized Tribes—the Choctaw, Cherokee, Muscogee, Chickasaw, and Seminole peoples. These Native American tribes moved into the region after the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, when they were forced to surrender their lands east of the Mississippi River to the federal government in exchange for the promise of land and independence in Indian Territory. Each of the larger tribes received reservation land holdings, individual governments were formed, and tribal citizens worked to rebuild their institutions, often as farmers, trappers, and ranchers. The majority of the American Indians were removed from the Southern states. During the Civil War, some citizens favored the Confederacy for financial, social and political reasons. Most of modern Tulsa is located in the Muscogee Nation, with parts located in the Cherokee Nation and Osage Nation.Settlement by Muscogee Creeks
The city now known as Tulsa was first settled by the Lochapoka Muscogee between 1828 and 1836. Driven from their native Alabama, and led by their chief, Achee Yahola, the Lochapokas established a new home at a site near present-day Cheyenne Avenue and 18th Street. Under a large Quercus macrocarpa tree, now called the Creek Council Oak Tree, they rekindled their ceremonial fire. The Lochapoka named their new settlement "Tulasi," meaning "old town" in their native language. Not coincidentally, 'tulasi' is the same word from which Tallahassee, Florida takes its name. Florida is part of the original home of the Muscogee people. The Lochapoka continued to use the site as late as 1896 for ceremonies, feasts and games. The area surrounding the tree was named the "Creek Nation Council Oak Park" in 1929.An 1832 visit to the area by the famous American writer Washington Irving is described in his book A Tour on the Prairies. Irving accompanied a U.S. Army exploration party on an excursion from Fort Gibson west onto the prairie and the lands occupied by the Osage and Pawnee tribes. In it, he relates camping in a grove of large trees on the banks of the Arkansas River a few miles south of the present day Tulsa city-limits. Washington Irving Park sits near the location.
In 1846, Lewis Perryman built a log cabin trading post near what is now 33rd Street and South Rockford Avenue. Perryman, who was part Creek, established a business foothold in the rugged frontier until the Civil War. The reconstruction period after the war contributed to the growth of the area; in 1879 the first post office opened on a ranch belonging to one of Lewis' sons, Josiah Chouteau Perryman, southeast of town. Josiah was appointed Tulsa's first postmaster. This was located in a log cabin near what would later become 31st Street and Lewis Avenue. Soon, it was officially moved to the George Perryman ranch house. By this time the area was known as 'Tulsey Town' and had grown to be a trading post and cattle town. According to Oklahoma historian, Angie Debo, Lewis Perryman had multiple wives and many children, including at least five sons: Legus C., Sanford W., Thomas W., George and Josiah C., all of whom became prominent in Tulsa's early history.
Debo wrote that the first Christian missionary to reach the Lochapoka area was J. Ross Ramsey, a Presbyterian from the Coweta station farther down the Arkansas River toward the Three Forks area. Ramsey stayed at Lewis Perryman's home in 1856, where he preached. His interpreter was Lewis' stepson, David Winslett, then a student at Tullahassee.
A Methodist minister, Rev. Sylvester Morris, built a house in the early 1880s that now stands in Tulsa's Owen Park. Originally, it stood on what became North Cheyenne Street. Morris served from 1836 until 1907, according to a sign in front of the house. This is the oldest surviving house in Tulsa.
Civil War era
The Federal Government split between the anti-slavery Unionists and the pro-slavery secessionists, law and order began to collapse into anarchy in the Indian Territory. Groups of Southerners worked to win the active support of the various tribes who lived there.After the Creeks formally accepted a treaty with the Confederate States of America, principal chief Opothle Yahola realized that those who had voted against the treaty were in danger of being assassinated. These Creeks, gathered their wives, children, movable possessions and livestock and moved to a temporary camp between the North Fork and Deep Fork of the North Canadian River, along with some Seminoles and Union supporters of other tribes. Upon learning that a force composed of Texas Cavalry and Confederate-supporting Indians was enroute to capture them, they commenced an orderly flight to find safety at a Federal fort in Kansas. The pursuing Confederates caught up with Opothleyahola's band at a place later named Round Mountain on November 19, 1860. Although the Texans attacked at nightfall, it soon became too dark to distinguish friend from foe, and both sides disengaged. During the night, the Unionists broke camp and slipped away.
Opothleyahola led his band toward Tulsey Town, where the Lochapokas supplied provisions and decided to join the retreating band's trek. Cooper camped for awhile, expecting orders to rejoin the Confederate army in Arkansas. Those orders did not arrive, so he resumed chasing Opothleyahola on November 29. By then, the Unionists had crossed from Creek territory into Cherokee territory, where a regiment of Cherokee full-bloods welcomed them. On December 8, most of the Cherokee soldiers decide to join the Unionists, put on cornshuck badges, and deserted the Confederate cause, leaving their Confederate commander, John Drew, as a leader without an army. On December 9, as Cooper and his troops advanced toward Tulsey Town along Bird Creek, the Unionists ambushed both ends of his column. By the end of the day, the Confederates had pushed the Unionists across the creek. While Cooper's troops camped on the prairie that night, the Unionists slipped away again. The next day, Cooper reported that his casualties were 15 men killed and 37 wounded. He saw the defection of so many Cherokees as a bad omen, and ordered part of his command to march directly to Fort Gibson while he and the rest of his troops camped at Choska.
Railroads: 1882–1901
In August, 1882, the population of Tulsa was about 200, when the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, which later merged into the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway, completed the extension of its line to Tulsa from the town of Vinita to serve the cattle business, the city's first industry.Josiah Perryman and his partner Has Reede opened a mercantile store at First and Main. Perryman moved the post office from his home to this store to provide better mail service to the community. He continued as postmaster until 1885, when he was succeeded by James M. Hall. Josiah died in 1889.
The Hall brothers, James M. and Harry C., who had operated the railway's company store in Vinita chose the point at which the railroad stopped. They initially selected a site where the railroad crossed what would become Lewis Avenue and pitched a tent for the store there. This location was just inside the boundary of the Cherokee nation. When the Halls discovered that the Creek Nation had fewer restrictions on the activities of white merchants, they moved the store a couple of miles west to what would become First street and erected a more permanent wooden building. James M. Hall, who would later be referred to as the 'Father of Tulsa,' marked off Tulsa's first streets, built its first permanent store, organized its first church, school, and government, and served as Tulsa's first Interim Postmaster.
In March, 1883, T. J., a mixed-blood Cherokee, opened a general store on First street, north of the Frisco railroad track. He soon fell in love with the daughter of George Mowbray. In 1905, he died in a tragic accident at his store, when an inebriated customer's firearm discharged into the area where Archer kept explosives, causing a keg of powder to explode. The store was demolished. The customer died instantly, while Archer suffered for a few weeks before he died. The city memorialized the popular storekeeper by naming the street paralleling the Frisco track for him.
In the summer of 1884, Rev. W. P. Haworth, a Presbyterian missionary serving at Vinita, Oklahoma, was sent to Tulsa to take charge of the church work. He constructed a building on the southeast corner of Fourth Street and Boston Avenue. Meanwhile Mrs. Haworth and another woman began teaching school in their homes until Haworth's building was finished. He opened the first church in the mission on October 5, 1885. Haworth did not remain long in Tulsa because soon after preaching against Tulsa's lawlessness one Sunday in 1888, he was beaten unconscious. Immediately, he resigned his position and moved to California.
The Presbyterian Church established the Presbyterian Mission Day School, a one-story building at what would become 4th Street and Boston Avenue in 1884. A second story was soon added to accommodate the number of children who were to attend. This school operated until 1889. After W. Tate Brady and many other prominent Tulsa businessmen signed the city charter in 1898, the newly incorporated city government took over the school and made it the first public school. James M. Hall and three other men bought the property with their own funds and held the title until the city could reimburse them.
Throughout the 19th century, the Native American tribes were made to accept a number of treaties that further reduced the size of their lands and introduced new tribes into Indian Territory. White settlers continued to push forward, and in 1892 the land was officially opened and all tribal members were forced to accept individual allocations of land. By 1898, the city had a population of 1,100. The city of Tulsa was incorporated in 1899. The 1900 U. S. census reported a population of 1,390.
The first newspaper in Tulsa, The Tulsa Review, began publication in 1893. Another newspaper, the New Era, was launched in 1895 to appeal to business leaders desiring positive stories about the city. The New Era was later renamed the Indian Republican and the Tulsa World in 1905. Eugene Lorton bought an interest in the Tulsa World in 1911, and it was owned by the Lorton family until 2013.
The first telephone system in Tulsa was begun in 1899 by Robert H. Hall, who linked 80 subscribers. In 1903, he sold his system to the Indian Territory Telephone Company, then based in Vinita, Oklahoma. The Pioneer Telephone and Telegraph Company bought ITTC on July 8, 1904, becoming the sole provider of telephone service in Tulsa.
In 1900, Rev. C. W. Kerr arrived in Tulsa as the first permanent Christian minister. He organized the First Presbyterian Church of Tulsa, and remained as its senior minister until he retired in 1941. He also played a significant role in the growth of Tulsa.